I literally can’t sleep until I have this jotted down.
TW for implied mpreg and oviposition from mer!reader (feel free to ignore this if this is uncomfortable!)
Thinking about that ask/rambling about mer!reader in their own little lake, and Ford never had this chance to see this creature because it wasn’t the right time of year so this can be interpreted as older Ford. Mer!reader residing in particularly murky waters to hide their reflective scales, among other reason explained later. Summer is when they decide to move out of salt water and into fresh water and start laying eggs across multiple banks of rocky lake shores specifically for the purpose of digging multiple giant holes trying to find the perfect location for maximum sunlight as long as possible. Throughout the night these special pebbles retain heat from the sunlight which heats up the eggs and provides protection. Ford absolutely spending virtually every waking second cataloguing every behavior/movement of mer!reader because this is like the coolest thing ever ofc and science man go wild. Ford skinny dipping turning into snorkeling and distant “fish person watching” over these months. Not sure how first meetings would go I’m bad at slow burn. There would be a million questions from Ford though, and mer!reader never experienced a being displaying so much genuine curiosity so they just go along with it ‘cuz reader’s hormones still hazing off submissive and agreeable mindset. They haven’t gotten aggressive, because Ford knows the boundaries and never dares getting too close to the mounds and reader feels all worshipped and preened like “yeah I did all this I’m a highly experienced individually I eat well so my scales are more luminescent than sea glass feed my ego”. Ford tried pushing on the boundaries after getting to know reader for so long just to see what he’s able to get away with because nerd wants to get hands on data soooo bad. Reader has regulated hormones, so they become skeptical and more fidgety, but this also makes room for their emotions and intelligence to lock in. Reader is reluctant, but eventually gives in to personal touches and whatnot because they already answered most of Ford’s “personal” questions wink wink and reader is still in that “sure buddy get a closer look at all this good stuff right here”, not realizing despite not having the hormones for this thinking they still seemingly want to impress and receive attention from this guy. Dude ughhh I keep building up without getting to the point sorry for the edging anyways. Reader considerably comfortable, but not so to allow Ford to move any closer to the nests. Reader trusts Ford enough to be like “fine handsome you wanna see my eggs so bad I can trick my biology to not be so aggressive towards you specifically once I lay these thangs”. God, what horrible grammar and basic English etiquette; ignore this ceaseless fumbling of myself. Should’ve been asleep a million hours ago.
“Quick question, what’s your average body temperature?”
“Think of this heat wave as my internal thermometer, minus the wind of course hehe. For what reason you inquire such an abrupt question?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
I’ll draw this later if you’ve read this far. I’m a freak (self praise).
I swear I’m not this horrible at asks, but sometimes a train of thought in the dead morning really is an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object at 300mph.
NOW LISTEN I do not need to add thing to my writing list but this.... This is something that has been floating around in my head for ages and your ask has reignited it.
I really want to do something with monster!Reader and a lake creature is top of my plans. You're tempting me greatly here.
